Wrap-up

There was no time to update this on Thursday or Friday, then we were on the road, so I'm going to test my memory and try to summarize our experiences. Also, I'm adding pictures. Haven't really figured out how to add captions or how to arrange them so they are in pretty random order.

Thursday started with a workshop on putting together what we had learned to achieve the beginnings of finesse. To practice, we used the "seat builders"--think of the bucking bulls in the cowboy bars. The biggest challenge is getting on them. Once we were atop, we were instructed in collecting ourselves by a series of moves that are similar to the way ducks come in for a landing. Then we used a supporting rein which involves lifing one rein, similar to the handles on the slot machines of days gone by. So to remember this, we are to go "Quack Quack Quack--Cha Ching!" We can't wait to practice this at home. If the neighbors didn't already think we were a bit off, this should clinch it!

Then we got to ride our horses in the playground and work on whatever issues we felt needed some time. Eventually it started to rain and we prudently decided that we were ready for the more advanced group, who were working in one of the covered arenas. We finished up with our instructor, Avery, leading us on a trail ride around the ranch, which sounded fun but was really quite a workout as we were to stay in line, properly spaced, and follow the leader through a series of challening maneuvers. All in all, the day went more smoothly than the day before, and Laura and I finished up with a quick ride around the property as it had stopped raining.

Friday--last day! We packed up and moved out of the hotel and then started to pack up all the horse gear and get the paddocks cleaned. The rain we had during the week really made this a delightful chore--it was challenging to clean everything out of the mud and then to navigate the wheelbarrow down the hill without slipping.

At the morning session, the theme was highlights--we shared highlights of our time at the ranch. Some people had been there more than 8 weeks. We found our instructors, Julia and Avery, were moving on to their careers as independent Parelli professionals. Then we all got our certificates, and moved up to the big arena (the Big Top) and learned the 7 Games line dance--lots of fun even if I'm not much of a dancer!

And then it was time to leave. We got the last of the gear up to the trailer and did a final tidying of the pens. I led Cowboy and Dexter up to the loading area by the Big Top. Somehow Laura finagled a ride with Avery in one of the golf carts and went zipping by us up the hill to get the truck and trailer. Apparently Cowboy felt the same as us and didn't want to leave and refused to get in the trailer. We got a quick lesson from Julia on trailer loading, got Dexter in, and then we were on our way.

We had felt lucky that it hadn't rained Friday but our luck ran out as we got to Cortez. From there to Monticello, UT, we had thunder, lightning and downpours. Laura was driving and had her hands full. Fortunately, the weather cleared as we headed north to Moab and we wound up with a beautiful Southwestern day in red rock country. A Sonoma County Parelli instructor, Julie Cross, was also staying in Moab and we found the Spanish Trail Arena a lot more agreeable with daylight, good weather, and company who knew the ropes. The next morning we turned out the horses for a little frolic before taking off again--this time Cowboy was much more agreeable about loading. It was a long day on the road and we pulled into Suzie Creek Arabians in Elko in the early evening. We actually got underway when we planned on Sunday and were home--finally!--around 5:15. Ken met us with beer and barbecue, and the horses were excited to be home again and back in their familiar digs. Laura's other horse, Lady, was pretty excited to see the trailer and her Mom pull in--she gave a very un-typical show of energy and emotion!

So now it's back to the old routine again. When we started the course, the faculty told us that the experience would change our lives. And it has. Even though the focus was on horsemanship, the underlying theme was leadership and excellence. The staff embodied those principles--they were professional and upbeat at all times. Some of the Parelli-isms that I had heard many times before but now have new meaning:

- "Be particular without being critical" --to me this means don't settle for sloppy work, but achieve excellence in a positive way

- "Good, better, best--never let it rest"

Even though we thought that a 1-week course was stretching our time and budget to the limit, now we can't wait to sign up for a 2-week course (or longer!). And we'll need that horse trailer with the living quarters...

Wednesdy Update

Another day in Paradise. It started out with rain which had us worried but it never got worse than intermittent showers. Our morning session had us break out into our "horsenality" groups. Parelli folks will understand this, and those who went through the HP Managing Interpersonal Relationships will get the concept as well. You get categorized based on whether you are an introvert or extrovert, and whether you are right-brained (intuitive) or left-brained (logical). Laura and I both went into the Left Brained Introvert group (surprise!). We went over the characteristics of all the groups, and then how the groups are perceived by members of the other group. Seems us LBIs are perceived as cold, un-fun, know-it-alls who always have to be right. Hmmph! Thank goodness we know the truth.

Then we got to warm up our horses, then have lunch and ride again. We experienced the thrill of victory (nobody got hurt) and the agony of defeat (found out just how much we are doing wrong). But after all, this is why we are here. And it really gives us something to work on.

We just finished up with a barbecue dinner and are going to feed and blanket the horses, then head to the hotel for cocktail hour.

As a side note, I am pleased to note that Laura is coming over to my side and is becoming disorganized and can't get going in the morning without coffee. I don't think she is as pleased about it as I am.

Can't believe we only have a day and a half left before we head out again!

Tuesday update

Seems like forever ago that we got here! Things are going swimmingly--especially yesterday during the torrential downpour that was accompanied by lots of thunder and lightning, including a strike on the next hillside. Of course, this was during the riding part of the day and Cowboy, having had enough of travel and confinement, blew his stack and gave the class an impressive demonstration of his bucking skills. Fortunately, this was during the part where you do the "pre-flight checkup" to see if the horse is fit to ride. He wasn't. Eventually, after a lot of work, I was able to ride him. Dexter was also a bit "up" but didn't put on quite as much of a show as Cowboy did, and Laura did get to ride him a little more.

Today went much better and I got to play with him on the ground and also do a lot of riding. The instruction is wonderful, both in the classroom and in the riding areas. Their philosophy is that they can't teach us anything but they can provide an environment in which we can learn. And it seems to work.

It does seem a little like boot camp, though. They do feed the horses, but we clean our own pens and do any other care for the horses. This includes filling their 5-gallon water buckets which doesn't sound so bad except that this is Colorado in the mountains, and the horse pens go up the side of a hill, and the water source is at the bottom of the hill. So Jack and Jill here have been going DOWN the hill to fetch the pail of water and then get to lug it back up the hill. The altitude is about 7000 feet so oxygen is in short supply. Our riding gear is kept in a community tack room close to the horses, but the trailer where everything else is located is parked up a different hill a ways away. So our fitness level should be dramatically improved by the end of the week. The fitness program may be compromised by the fact that they feed us 3 square meals a day and snacks are available the rest of the day. And don't forget that beer that Ken sent with us that is waiting for us at the hotel at the end of the day.

Still no power cord (we're at the ranch during Radio Shack hours) so probably no pics on this site until we get back.

More to follow.

First on-the-road update

Finally, we are here! I'm using the computer at the ranch so I can't upload photos, and I don't have glasses at the moment so forgive the typos.

We had an uneventful (thankfully!) trip with animals, people and equipment all working perfectly. The boys were cooperative, loading into the trail for their trip like good little soldiers, and rode quietly 11 hours until we reached our first stop in Elko. Next day, same thing, with all going well until we approached our next overnight spot at Moab, UT, where we were greeted with a spectacular lightning show. It looked like we were right in the middle of it but there was no thunder so it must have been far away. Still, it was dark, windy and the sky was lighting up every few seconds, so it was high drama. The boys were a little less happy about this, especially Cowboy who is my drama boy, and we had a little more action that night. The stalls were very small, only 8x12, and the wind was howling and the sand blowing. We got them settled in and got to bed very late, only to be woken by Cowboy whinnying frantically at 3:30 a.m. We had planned on getting up at 4:30 to hit the road by 6 anyway, so what's an hour? The horses never got breakfast so early. By the time we were ready to leave, Cowboy was in quite a state and wouldn't load, so we were delayed about 20 minutes trying to be good Parelli horsepeople and firmly but fairly shove him in the trailer.

Finally, we were on the road. The sand had been blowing so hard that we had sand in our hair, our clothes, our fillings had been polished and we had involuntary dermabrasion. We decided that the film on our faces was just mineral makeup. Fortunately, the rest of the trip was less dramatic and we arrived safely at Pagosa Springs, only to completely miss the entrance to the Parelli ranch and wind up in town, which we knew was a mistake. At least we knew enough to turn around and go back and not wind up in New Mexico like we did on another memorable trip to the ranch (my bad).

Everyone is settled in. The weather is gorgeous and the horses are happy. Looks to be a great class. One glitch is that I forgot the power cord to my laptop and the battery is low, so I'm doing this at the Parelli center and can't upload photos. I'm going to try to see if I can get another cord in town, otherwise the photos will have to be uploaded post-trip.

More later!

Last year while attending the Parelli Natural Horsemanship conference in Pagosa Springs, CO,  my neighbor Laura and I signed up for a 1-week course that started in September 2009. It seemed a long way off at the time, but here it is Sept 8 2009 and we are just about on our way. My horse Cowboy and Laura's horse Dexter will be coming along. We've spent the last few weeks preparing the horses, the trailer and ourselves. The horses' diets have been changed (a couple of times!) and the trailer has been turned into our rolling palace. We'll be spending a few nights sleeping in the trailer along the way.

The plan is to leave this Friday, Sept 11 at 7 a.m. (yawn!). This means that the horses should be fed by 5:30 a.m. so they can finish their breakfast. Laura has generously volunteered for this duty as she is an early riser and they may actually get fed on time.  Then we load the boys up and hit the road. After one or two stops to let the boys rest their legs from road vibration, we'll get to Suzie Creek Arabians close to Elko, NV where we will spend our first night--should take 9-10 hours to get there. The boys will have outdoor pens and we'll sleep in the gooseneck part of the trailer.  Similar plan for the next day (Saturday) and we'll spend the night in Moab at the Old Spanish Trail center. Then we leave early Sunday for Pagosa Springs where we need to check in at the Parelli Center between 9 a.m. and noon. It will take around 4 hours to get there. After we check in and get the horses settled in their paddocks, our class will have an orientation. After all that, we will finally get to unhitch the trailer and take the truck into town to our home away from home at the Econo Lodge. The rest of the week we'll be getting to the Parelli Center early to feed the horses, then we get our breakfast (and all our other meals) provided by Parelli and start our class. The focus of this class is Finesse Riding and I think there will be both classroom work and riding.  There will be some free time to play with the horses using the Parelli facility which is set up like one big playground for horse lovers, including a swimming pond where you can take a dip with your equine buddy.

We'll be heading out Friday afternoon and do the same trip in reverse, arriving back home in Sebastopol late afternoon Sunday the 20th.

Laura's husband Ken will be staying home taking care of their menagerie. He is trying to act like he'll be lonely but ever so often a little grin appears. He will be sending us off with his fabulous barbecued chicken in the ice chest, accompanied by lots of carefully chosen beer. We also have a good supply of chocolate and I think there is room in the ice chest for some healthy food.

Thanks to my neighbor Ann for watching over my kitty Patches while we're gone!

I'll be trying to post to this on the trip. I will probably not have internet access along the road so it may be the 20th before I have a chance.